The van interior smelled of apples, a scent that was comforting and oddly refreshing. Maitho could feel his mind settling down. All the thoughts that were skittering in his head like army ants came to a crawl, and eventually stopped moving. It was the strangest sensation, as though he had entered another realm.
“Quite calming, isn’t it?” Raiden’s voice came from the front passenger seat.
The driver was a muscular man, similar in built to the ones Maitho fought in the alleyway. If the man was part of the same army that Cray had control of, then it was safe to assume that they underwent the same training.
“You mean the smell? It is." Maitho looked around the van. "Magical?” The seats were the color of a cozy cream. Suede covered the roof interior, matching the color of the seats. Genuine wood covered parts of the door and the dashboard. Maitho ran his hand along the window sill, his fingers almost sliding along the surface without resistance.
“It is,” said Raiden. “The effect of Idun’s apples. Eating them keeps you young. Smelling them keeps you relaxed.” He smiled and faced forward. The van took off.
Maitho turned around to catch a glimpse of the Celtic team through the rear window. They were still standing there, albeit with Brigid missing. She was probably sitting inside the vehicle. Quinn flashed his headlights twice. There was no certainty whether he could actually see Maitho or if his reaction was the case of perfect timing. Regardless, it was a welcome gesture.
“You do make friends quickly,” said Raiden.
Maitho faced forward. “I wouldn’t call it friendship yet. But they are good folks.”
“Even if some of them treated you like crap in the beginning?”
Maitho nodded. “Yeah. They must have had their reasons.”
Raiden caught Maitho’s eye in the rearview mirror and gave a soft smile. “That’s why they look up to you. Well, at least some of them.”
“I think you’re getting ahead of yourself.”
The ride was surprisingly smooth, with the van staying within the speed limit. “Keep them close, my friend,” said Raiden. “You’ll need their help.”
“Not going to tell me to stay away from them? That my decisions should be independent of their involvement?”
“Back there, you managed to land a hit on me because you worked together with them. No, you need them.”
Maitho had not expected that. “Aren’t you supposed to divide us?”
“We are on the opposite spectrum of a belief system,” said Raiden. He sighed, as though what he was saying was supposed to be obvious. “We fight for what we believe in. Why would I fault you for that?” Raiden swiveled in his seat, placing one arm on the headrest on his side and the other arm draped over the driver’s seat. “Whatever you do, whatever you decide, speak to them about it. They may be able to guide you. And you,” he pointed at Maitho, “will be able to guide them.”
“You know, Charon had said something similar. You are both trying to place me as their leader. I am not here to overthrow someone.”
“Not every leader has to win by mutiny. The team will back you up and Brigid, for all her faults, will recognize the situation.”
“I’m not going to do it.” Maitho shook his head. “You know, for someone who wants me on their side, you are persistent about me joining forces with another team.”
“I’m asking you to be part of something,” Raiden faced forward, resting an elbow on the windowsill and leaning his head against his fist. “I’m not cruel. Not when I have no reason to be. You shouldn’t die alone. That’s a sad fate. I know many people who are deserving of it. You are far from being in the same realm as those people.”
His words made Maitho think about the end that awaited him. He hadn’t managed to complete his mission. He hadn’t saved Jonathan Cray’s life. That only meant one thing. His own life was coming to a conclusion in less than a couple of weeks.
He had often wondered what it would be like to die as a Guardian. Would everything simply come to a full stop? Would the darkness hit him without warning? Or would it be something a little more painful, like a cardiac arrest or an accident waiting to happen?
When he had first become a Guardian, he was always anxious, and sometimes even terrified, of the fate that awaited him should he ever failt to complete his missions. It felt as though the scythe of death was always hanging around his neck, the blade just an inch away from taking his life. He would panic. Sometimes, he would jolt upright in the middle of the night, a thin film of sweat coating his body, his breath escaping in quick bursts.
Over time, he had accepted his fate. It had become the new norm, as though he had lost a limb and had replaced it with an artificial one. It was a strange sensation, being able to get used to the presence of impending death. Both life and death existed in equal measures in his mind. Perhaps that was how old people felt, knowing that they were so close to reaching the end of their life’s run.
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“I think having friends is just going to make the departure more difficult,” said Maitho.
“Perhaps,” said Raiden. “But it’s going to be a less lonely one.”
"I'm used to being in my own company."
"Then get used to being in the company of others. If the Gods wanted us to be lonely, they wouldn't have allowed us to multiply into the billions. Even if we die alone, we are meant to live with others. It's like," Raiden took a moment to think. "Apples."
Maitho was confused. "Apples?"
Raiden nodded. "You eat them alone, but you grow them with other apples." Another pause. "Grow together with others. There is more meaning to life that way."
The rest of the ride continued in a respectful silence. Raiden never pushed Maitho into a conversation. He didn’t try to ask him questions or give a speech to explain why his cause was right. He simply stared out the window, letting the quiet become a companion.
After many twists and turns, Maitho began to recognize some of the buildings they passed by. He had seen the structures on many occasions before. Especially when he was keeping a watch over the Cray residence. “Unless I'm mistaken, I think we might be heading towards Jonathan Cray’s mansion.”
Raiden nodded. “You haven’t seen the entire mansion yet. You were, after all, in a hurry the last time you were there.”
Maitho felt a sense of unease. After all, the last time he was in the house, he was almost going to be captured. The need to leap out of the driving van began to grow stronger. Raiden must have noticed something, because he spoke up. “We are not going to let the past dictate the present. Whatever happened the last time you were there, is not the subject of our focus. No one will harm you. I'm going to make sure of that.”
Eventually, Maitho began to notice a familiar street, lined on both sides with houses that only a small percentage of the world’s population could claim as their own. He knew what was coming next and predicted with ease the time it would take them to reach their destination. He even knew how many structures they would pass before arriving at the Cray mansion.
It was all in his mind. A roadmap that was all too familiar to him.
When the van came to a stop, Maitho had prepared himself mentally. He knew that if he allowed himself, then he would continue to experience the trepidation. Perhaps it might transform into fear, rooting him to a spot. He had to get rid of it. He opened the sliding door and stepped outside. Raiden had already walked around the van and was waiting for him.
Maitho looked at the Cray mansion. The gate blocked the lower part of the house, but he was familiar with the sight that lay beyond.
“Shall we?” Raiden said, pointing his hand forward.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Maitho began walking towards the mansion. As he neared the gate, it swung inwards seemingly on its own. However, when he stepped past the threshold, he noticed a muscular woman standing just inside the mansion perimeter. She must have been the one to open the gate.
He noticed many more men and women standing watch around the house. Some of them had batons strapped to their waist. They looked at him with caution, their eyes evaluating him. Two of them positioned themselves on either side of the mansion's entrance.
Maitho pushed with his mind…
...and found himself walking towards the entrance. One of the guards opened the door for him. When he stepped inside, another guard with a metal detector wand approached him. No one around him showed any signs of aggression.
He allowed himself to relax…
...and returned to the present.
He walked up the short flight of stairs and stopped for the guard to open the entrance. When he stepped inside, he realized something after seeing the guard with the wand.
He had two phones on him. One of them was his and the other was Bevan’s. If the wand beeped at two different areas on his body, then that would definitely raise some eyebrows. And perhaps questions that he didn’t want to answer.
He turned around and faced Raiden. “I didn’t come here to harm anyone. Brigid never trusted me with a weapon.”
Raiden narrowed his eyes. For a moment, it seemed as though he was about to express his doubts.
“I want to know I am trusted,” said Maitho.
After a heavy sigh, Raiden looked at the guard and shook his head. The guard stepped back without complaint, holding the wand behind him.
“I think this is the part where you lead,” said Maitho.
Raiden stepped past him. Maitho followed. Just when he thought that they were going to walk up the stairs, the Norse Guardian headed towards the back of the house. A wall of glass awaited them and beyond that was what could only be described as a small garden, complete with a majestic fountain in the center.
The center of the glass wall were sliding doors, which were pushed aside by Raiden. The Guardian stepped to the side, making way for Maitho to step outside onto a small patio. The floor was made of white marble, but that wasn’t what caught his eye. Where the floor ended, the garden began.
The garden itself was a visual treat for the eyes. There were large swathes of green, with splashes of yellows, oranges, whites, and purples. There were more colors that Maitho spotted, flowers belonging to species he couldn’t identify. He saw stone pathways that snaked around the garden and archways covered in vines. He saw wooden benches and even street lamps that looked like they had been plucked out of an 18th century novel. It wasn’t just the flora that was mesmerizing. There was an assortment of fauna that grabbed the eye. Butterflies of various colors flitted around. Birds lounged on various surfaces, their calls adding music to the environment.
He heard a clinking sound and when he turned to his right, he found an old man seated at a round table. Three seats were positioned at equal distances around the table. Behind the old man were his children, standing guard on either side of him. His adopted children. The two people Maitho had faced-off against when he had first stepped into the house the previous evening.
“Welcome back,” said Jonathan Cray. “It seems we have much to talk about.”